Searching for chemical and sensory parameters for flavor enhancement in strawberry breeding

Most of the modern strawberry cultivars were bred for size, color, shelf-life, and
disease resistance. In parallel, they lost some of their unique flavor. Combining
beneficial agronomical traits with a pleasant flavor is a challenge for plant breeders.
Until now, however, no generally accepted standard for the ‘ideal’ strawberry exists,
neither for a profile of sensory attributes nor for the metabolite pattern. In this study,
sensory characteristics and acceptance were determined by a consumer panel in
three different harvest years. The sensory data were correlated with instrumental
data that comprised VOC patterns, brix value and titratable acids. Altogether, 19
cultivars and breeding clones were included in the consumer study. On the basis of a
correlation analysis between instrumental and sensory parameters, hints for an
analytically directed flavor selection were derived. However, because of complex
interactions between non-volatile and/or volatile metabolites, e.g., between lactones
and sweet taste, the results of instrumental methods like GC and aggregate
parameters have only a limited ability to mimic sensory attributes and especially
hedonic characters. Therefore, a sensory method adapted for selections, beside a
reliable instrumental analysis, is essential for flavor breeding programs in
strawberry.